Since an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle requires a power source having large capacity, a battery block including a plurality of battery cells is used in such a vehicle.
The battery module of this type includes a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction, a plurality of separators each inserted between the adjacent battery cells, a pair of end plates that sandwich the plurality of battery cells and the plurality of separators in the first direction therebetween, and a bind bar that is fixed to each of the pair of end plates and is in contact with each of the plurality of separators.
Each of the plurality of separators forms an air supply gap through which a cooling gas flows between the adjacent battery cells. Therefore, the battery block is configured to be capable of cooling each of the plurality of battery cells by a cooling fluid that is supplied to a periphery of the battery block and passes through each air supply gap (see JP-A-2010-287550, for example).
In the above-described battery block, a gap is occasionally generated between the bind bar and the separator by deflection of the bind bar, for example, at the time of assembling or at the time of use. In such a case, a portion of the cooling fluid supplied to the periphery of the battery block passes through the gap between the separator and the bind bar. Accordingly, in the battery block, a flow rate of the cooling fluid entering each air supply gap decreases, and cooling performance of the plurality of the battery cells occasionally reduces.